Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M) Shares Bought by Commonwealth Equity Services LLC

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 45,105 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,122 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Macy’s were worth $764,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Macy’s during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in Macy’s by 82.1% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,149 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 969 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Macy’s during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Tompkins Financial Corp purchased a new stake in Macy’s in the fourth quarter valued at $102,000. Finally, Vestcor Inc acquired a new position in shares of Macy’s in the 4th quarter valued at $115,000. 87.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on M. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Macy’s from $19.00 to $17.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Macy’s from $9.00 to $8.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th. Gordon Haskett cut Macy’s from an “accumulate” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Macy’s in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $14.00 price objective on Macy’s in a report on Monday, March 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $15.30.

Insider Transactions at Macy’s

In related news, CEO Antony Spring sold 3,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.74, for a total value of $42,923.76. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 272,680 shares in the company, valued at $3,746,623.20. This represents a 1.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Adrian V. Mitchell sold 5,122 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.77, for a total transaction of $65,407.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 130,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,666,370.07. The trade was a 3.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 41,751 shares of company stock worth $537,790. Company insiders own 2.77% of the company’s stock.

Macy’s Stock Up 2.7 %

Macy’s stock opened at $13.22 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.41 and a beta of 2.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a current ratio of 1.26. Macy’s, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $12.48 and a fifty-two week high of $20.70. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $14.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $15.24.

Macy’s (NYSE:M) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $7.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.76 billion. Macy’s had a return on equity of 21.99% and a net margin of 0.73%. Equities research analysts expect that Macy’s, Inc. will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Macy’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.1824 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.52%. This is an increase from Macy’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Macy’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.44%.

Macy’s Company Profile

Macy’s, Inc engages in the retail of apparel, accessories, cosmetics, home furnishings, and other consumer goods. The firm’s brands include Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, and Bluemercury. It offers men’s, women’s, and children’s apparel, women’s accessories, intimate apparel, shoes, cosmetics, fragrances, as well as home and miscellaneous products.